Tennessee House Bill HB1061

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/5/25
• Refer: 2/10/25
• Refer: 3/4/26
• Refer: 3/24/26
• Engrossed: 4/2/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 56, Chapter 7 and Title 68, Chapter 140, relative to no surprise ambulance billing.

Summary

HB1061 creates a Tennessee “no surprise” billing rule for ambulance services. For health benefit plans issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025, an out-of-network ambulance provider may not balance bill an enrollee for covered ambulance services. The bill defines key terms such as ambulance, ambulance service, balance billing, emergency medical condition, health benefit plan, and health insurer, and it applies to both ground and air ambulance transportation when the service is covered under the plan. The bill limits what an enrollee must pay for out-of-network ambulance services to the lesser of: the in-network cost-sharing amount in the plan, the provider’s billed charges, or 325% of the applicable Medicare ambulance rate for the same service in the same geographic area. It also requires insurers to treat that cost-sharing amount as if it were in-network cost sharing, including applying it to deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. In addition, ambulance organizations are prohibited from asking patients to sign waivers or other documents that would try to override these protections.

Impact

HB1061 would amend Tennessee insurance law in Title 56 by adding new protections against surprise billing for ambulance transport, while also referencing Title 68 in the bill caption. It would directly affect health insurers, ambulance service providers, and enrollees in health benefit plans by limiting patient liability for out-of-network ambulance services and requiring insurers to credit those payments toward deductible and out-of-pocket limits. The bill would take effect July 1, 2025, and would apply only to plans issued or renewed on or after that date.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong and unanimous support for the bill at each recorded stage. The Insurance Subcommittee recommended passage, the House Insurance Committee advanced it unanimously, and the House floor passed it 93-0. That pattern suggests broad bipartisan agreement and little visible opposition in the recorded proceedings.

Contention

No committee transcript is available, and the recorded votes show no opposition, so there are no documented points of contention in the materials provided. Based on the bill text, the most likely policy issues would be the balance between consumer protection and reimbursement levels for ambulance providers, especially the use of 325% of the Medicare rate as the payment benchmark. Any concern would likely come from ambulance service organizations or insurers over payment adequacy, administrative implementation, or the prohibition on waivers, but those objections are not reflected in the available record.